To successfully be served with a takedown request that I can challenge, I presumably need to host the sources in a DMCA-free country, via a host that won't automatically take action without consulting me. In other words, I need a host that will cooperate with my investigation.

I would appreciate some suggestions about this. A pirate-friendly host in Sweden or Iceland seems like a good starting point, but it should also not be seen as to have such a deaf ear to intellectual property that the notice won't even be sent.